There has been a great weight on my chest that I can no longer ignore. It is affecting not just my breathing but also my sleep, appetite, and happiness. I have held on to this terrible secret for far too long and it is here that I will relieve my conscience of its awful suffering. The burden I have carried is immense and the implications of this confession, devastating. Family and friends, forgive me the grief I am about to unleash upon you. Please know that the shocking truths that follow come from the deepest regions of my heart.

You may have noticed that my last few posts have contained photographs that are recycled from earlier shoots. Today, for example, I have posted a photograph made almost a month ago. So here it is:

My precious baby (my camera) has been sent off for repair…

Shameful that I did not tell you all sooner. Will you ever be able to forgive me? They say she will be gone for up to four weeks! So, I feel so much better having let that knowledge free. Unfortunately, you will have to suffer through more of my noxious and bloated ranting until she returns.

Well, what the hell did you think I was going to confess?

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23 Responses to “a confession”

OMG – here i was expecting you to say you have been eating meat for the last 6 months during the day…… Its not about your camera – its about your ability is why we come here. well sort of – i come here for the free entertainment of messing with you and your emotions :)

Thank goodness John Edwards didn’t end up with the DNC nomination! What an idiot. Now we will be hearing from the right that because John Edwards had sex that the poor don’t exist. ; )

I believe the problem is with the mechanism that drives the mirror. There is an error on the LCD when the shutter is pressed. This happens about every three shots and when the mirror flips up it doesn’t sound right.

I would venture that the majority of the poor are just a product of our welfare programs, I mean why should they work? Living on the public dole is much more appealing than taking on responsibility ; ) I kid I kid.

I don’t think R or D will solve the “37 million people who wake up to poverty every morning.” Raising minimum wage will not do it. As it is the poor pay next to nothing in taxes. Whatever happened to ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat.’

Sure they wake up to poverty, but they also wake up to three jobs. That is what doesn’t add up. When you say that poor people don’t pay taxes I hope you meant to say unemployed people don’t pay taxes.

When you look at the percentages it is the rich that pay next to nothing in taxes. What compels you to defend them? It can’t be that you think welfare is eating up all the tax money. Compassionate conservatives have shut down most of the welfare programs in this country.

We have poor people in America? I thought that was a bad joke – one that the democrats were playing on the people of the US… I think if there is really such a think as poor people then they should get a job and/or an education…. Or maybe they could spend there hard earn money (cough) better – like – oh I don’t know – lets see, instead of buying that rock of crack or that 40 – they get a shower and go to work :) I hear they have free showers at the YMCA…. BUT NO stupid bleeding heart liberals want to crater to their needs – I think I little tough love would do them some good…

this message brought to you buy – “Poor People are People too Foundation”

Why so angry guys? Who have you been listening to that makes you think these people are happy where they are? The biggotry of Rush, Schnit, O’Reilly, Beck, and the rest is no model to base a solution on.

I was dropped several times on my head as a child…. And I want to have a free ride as well through life…. j/k :)

At the end of the day – its about the person and the choices he/she makes. If you live in an area that you have to work 3 jobs to make a living – either change jobs – get an education or move but don’t expect me to pay for you. Its that persons decision to live in a crap hole and not make it. I don’t feel as americans (more importantly me) we should have to pay for people who choice to stay and struggle and expose themselves and more importantly there childred to that type of life. I would rather they take that money and pay the teachers what they are worth and set higher standards so our childred have more opportunities to get the correct education.

Not please don’t get me wrong – am all for helping the truely needed but – there has to be limits.

I’m not angry at all : ) I’m a lazy middle class intellectual, my mommy’s on valium, so ineffectual.

I’m not defending the rich or attacking the poor nor do I believe they are happy. Their complacency, lack of responsibility, and subjectivity as political pawns is what I’m attacking.

Some good friends of mine are text book examples of breaking the chains of poverty. Both came from food stamp, dirty, drunk, government cheese poor families in Tennessee. Got pregnant at 16, married at 16, two kids by 22. Now both are 30, both have masters degrees, husband is a partner at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu accounting firm (big 4), the wife is a teacher, kids are brilliant. They worked 3-4 jobs, never saw each other, paid for their educations in cash and loans. Never took money and STILL do not take money from ANYONE. They will not even ask for help to move or remodel or go to the stinking airport.

The percentages speak for themselves, just now the way the politicians would have you believe. I invite you to peruse the document below.

• America’s lowest-earning households—those earning less than $23,700 in cash money income in 2004—face the nation’s lowest tax burden. However, they still pay thousands of dollars per year to finance government spending at all levels. Households in the bottom income group paid an average of $4,325 in taxes in 2004, or $1,684 to the federal government and $2,642 to state and local governments.

These are just some quick cherry picks from that article…I’m at work so not much time to dig deep. :) BTW…I listen to NPR as much as anything else.

• In general, households that earn the most income pay the most dollars of taxes. This is no surprise, since income and payroll taxes make up a very large portion of the nation’s tax bill. Overall, the most tax dollars were paid by households in the top income group. They paid an average of $81,933 in taxes—$57,512 to the federal government in Washington in 2004, and $24,421 to state and local governments at home. Households in the middle income group—which some refer to as the “middle class”—paid an average of $21,194 in taxes, or $13,028 in federal taxes and $8,166 in state and local taxes.

YEAH for the middle class picking up the bill for the poor and the rich – am damned if I do and am damned if I don’t……. BTW you both are middle class…..

BTW am not rich but i did pay almost 35k in taxes between Cheri and I… of course all my bonus being taxed at a higher rate of 35% didn’t help… But wait – that means more money for little Orphan Annie :) I don’t mine helping here – but jimbo on the corner with the PBR is a different store….

You know what…it is all about how local, state, and fed government chooses to waste…I mean spends our money. Poverty has always and will always be a problem, but lets remember that no one is entitled to anything. All things are earned in one way or another.

Take Doug for example…he earned his big bonus by being a slick salesman :)

I earned my trip to the bathroom after a “pleasant at the time” meal from Moes last week.

I think we can all agree that our government has grown to big for its britches! VIVA LA REVOLUCION!!!!!

DO – you are too rich, you just spend your money on toys (no harm in that BTW)! Also, 90% of the “jimbos on the corner” are veterans, all they did to earn that was fight in Vietnam and come back to an unappreciative country in denial that war can cause PTSD… Oh, and what is PBR?

RB – did the babies born to poor families earn that? must be original sin, huh?

Ok so I am going to post this again – I guess am being censored or something!!!!

So you aren’t allowed to talk smack if you don’t even know what PBR is…. Pabts Blue Ribbon – Gezz I don’t hardly ever drink and I know what that is……

Secondly – Am not rich because I have money. Am rich because of the people around me, I could live in a cardboard box but as long as I had the family and friends around me that I do then I would still be rich.

Lastly – This really sounds like something Flash would say :) “Also, 90% of the “jimbos on the corner” are veterans, all they did to earn that was fight in Vietnam and come back to an unappreciative country in denial that war can cause PTSD…” which is totally off base hehe

So I did a little digging last night and found this at Wikipedia:

The major reasons and lack of causes for homelessness as documented by many reports and studies include:[12][13][14]

Lack of affordable housing
Unavailability of employment opportunities, which becomes a vicious circle due to the initial problem of being homeless
Poverty, caused by many factors including unemployment and underemployment
Lack of affordable healthcare
Substance abuse and unavailability or lack of needed services
Mental illness and unavailability or lack of needed services
Domestic violence
Prison release and re-entry into society
Natural disaster
Forced eviction – In many countries, people lose their homes by government order to make way for newer upscale high rise buildings, roadways, and other governmental needs.[15] The compensation may be minimal, in which case the former occupants cannot find appropriate new housing and become homeless.
Mortgage foreclosures on homes in the United States in due to the crisis of a large number of shaky and sub-prime mortgages granted by banks and other lenders.[16]
A substantial percentage of the U.S. homeless population are individuals who are chronically unemployed or have difficulty managing their lives effectively due to prolonged and severe drug and/or alcohol abuse.[17] Substance abuse can cause homelessness from behavioral patterns associated with addiction that alienate an addicted individual’s family and friends who could otherwise provide support during difficult economic times.

Increased wealth disparity and income inequality causes distortions in the housing market that push rent burdens higher, making housing unaffordable.[18]

In this – it does not mention Vietnam or veterans as the leading source of the homeless… The typical homeless person is a person that has a mental disability and they should be in a home.

Two points about your comment. First, PTSD is a mental illness if I’m not mistaken. Mental illnesses are on your list. Second, its good to hear you are such a big supporter of social programs. I agree with you that we should begin using our tax dollars for useful things. Pasted from your comment:

*Lack of affordable healthcare
*Substance abuse and unavailability or lack of needed services
*Mental illness and unavailability or lack of needed services
*Mortgage foreclosures on homes in the United States in due to the crisis of a large number of shaky and sub-prime mortgages granted by banks and other lenders.
*Increased wealth disparity and income inequality causes distortions in the housing market that push rent burdens higher, making housing unaffordable.

Also, poor doesn’t equal homelessness. Poor doesn’t even equal joblessness. That is the white middle class myth espoused by the upper class who stand to lose if the truth of income disparity ever reaches the masses.

First you are wrong :) it’s not a illness – Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can occur after you have been through a traumatic event.

It’s a disorder which mean – change in how you think or feel that interferes with your ability to get on with your day-to-day life and enjoy yourself. There are many forms of mental disorder, of which anxiety and depression are the most commonly known. While these may be on a continuum of how people think and feel, the ‘rule of thumb’ test is that the thoughts or feelings are persistent and interfere with normal functioning or pleasure in life. We all know what it feels like to be worried at times, of course, but if someone has a persistent feelings of worry or dread (without real reason) that goes on for weeks, then it’s a good idea if they talk to their doctor in case they have an actual anxiety disorder which can be helped by treatment. There is no strict definition which distinguishes ‘mental disorder’ from ‘mental illness’ and the two terms are often used interchangeably these days. ‘Illness’ is sometimes used to describe conditions such as schizophrenia which have a strong biological basis, but this is not always a helpful or even accurate distinction. Rather than be concerned about terminology, it is more important for symptoms to be recognized, assessed and treated so that people can get on with their lives again – regardless of whether this is called a ‘disorder’ or an ‘illness’. http://health.ninemsn.com.au/asktheexperts/expert2.aspx?id=61353

Lastly – I don’t think I ever said poor equal anything but a bad situation that is completely in the hands of that person. However, typically signs of being poor are homelessness – jobless and you can’t argue with that.

Don’t be so “concerned about terminology, it is more important for symptoms to be recognized, assessed and treated so that people can get on with their lives again – regardless of whether this is called a ‘disorder’ or an ‘illness’”….

“Lastly – I don’t think I ever said poor equal anything but a bad situation that is completely in the hands of that person. However, typically signs of being poor are homelessness – jobless and you can’t argue with that.”

This is completely contradicted by your post (quoted below).

*Lack of affordable healthcare
*Substance abuse and unavailability or lack of needed services
*Mental illness and unavailability or lack of needed services
*Mortgage foreclosures on homes in the United States in due to the crisis of a large number of shaky and sub-prime mortgages granted by banks and other lenders.
*Increased wealth disparity and income inequality causes distortions in the housing market that push rent burdens higher, making housing unaffordable.